Yesterday I was migrating my website to a different server to correct the interminable slowness my site has been experiencing.  The first tech support call was great.  The second guy is responsible for the rampant hostility toward computer guys everywhere.  You know like the Nick Burns computer guy skit from Saturday Night Live.  I used to be Nick Burns – well hopefully I was less of a jerkhole, but that was my job.  At the end of the day, the site has been migrated and from my end all the issues seem resolved.  Please let me know if you continue to experience any time outs or slowness, and I’ll try to keep traceroutes, ping tests, and packet loss out of casual conversation.

I really was trying to be reasonable with the chicken tetrazzini.  I planned to make one for dinner and one for the freezer.  Found the recipe, then completely abandoned any potential for taking the easy road.  Cause I’m all from scratch, y’all.  Don’t feel compelled to fall victim to my insanity.  If you do, I recommend this as a Sunday project if you’re a working person or at least as a part of a larger meal plan.

My dear friend, Elizabeth, tried some Oprah meal planning awhile back.  In my memory it involved something like buying two rotisserie chickens, shredding them, then making four meals from the bounty.  I can’t remember much other than I don’t think she was wowed by the results.  My problem is we don’t really eat dark meat, so rotisseries don’t really provide a lot of shredded chicken.  Many things in cooking don’t translate into economies of scale but shredding chicken does.  No need to go all crazy and roast first, then boil the chicken like I did.  I was suffering from existential angst on Monday, forgive me.  I’ve been boiling split breasts for chicken soup for years with wonderful results, the extra roasting is so *not* necessary.  In any case, if you want to shred your own chicken, just get a large pot and do a bunch – like 8 or 10 large split breasts.  Then you can have shredded chicken and broth for Chicken and Goat Cheese Enchiladas or Chicken Stuffed Fried Avocados or Mediterranean Penne  or Chicken Salad or something of your very own creation.

Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe

adapted from Martha Stewart Everday Food April 2007

makes 2 casseroles, each having about 5-6 servings

5 split chicken breasts

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

1 lb sliced white mushrooms

1/2 c. flour

3 c. 1% milk

3/4 c. dry white wine

3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1 lb. linguine

10 oz. frozen petite peas

(Martha uses the shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken, if you go that route you’ll also need 2 c. of chicken broth)

In a large pot, cover split breasts with water, then add 2 teaspoons of salt and 16 turns fresh ground pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for about an hour, then remove chicken to a bowl.  Using a two bowl system, remove the skin and bones from the split breasts with two forks, then move your chicken to clean bowl and shred.  Repeat until you’ve shredded all your chicken.  Reserve 2 cups of chicken broth.

In a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter, then add sliced mushrooms.  Season mushrooms generously with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  I sprinkle the whole surface, but you can use approx 1/2 teaspoons of salt as a guide.  Increase heat to high to brown mushrooms, stirring occasionally.  Wait for mushrooms to release all their water, then continue over high heat until nicely browned.  Remove mushrooms to a bowl.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a bowl.  Break linguine in half, then cook approx nine minutes until just slightly less than al dente.  Drain.

In the same skillet used to brown the mushrooms, melt remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, then add flour, stir, and brown for 2 minutes.  Add milk while whisking furiously, then add wine and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, then continue to cook over medium heat for 3 more minutes.  Whisk every 30 seconds or so.  Add a teaspoon of salt and 20 turns of fresh ground pepper, then 2 cups of the grated parmesan and the thyme.  Stir to combine, then adjust seasonings to taste.  This is the easiest place to mess up the recipe!  Be sure to season your sauce to taste.  The pasta, the chicken, and the peas are all pretty bland – all the flavor comes from the sauce!

In the now empty pasta pan, combine pasta, shredded chicken, browned mushrooms, peas, and sauce.  Stir until thoroughly coated.  Pour into two 8×8 glass pans.  Top with remaining cup of Parmesan.  Cover one pan with Saran wrap, then press down on casserole to create an airtight seal.  Freeze for up to two months.  Bake other casserole for 30 minutes at 400, until bubbly.  In full disclosure, I don’t use my freezer very often.  I’m not entirely sure what will happen when I cook the frozen one, but Martha says it’s freezer friendly so I believe her.  I’m guessing to thaw it in the fridge the day before, then cook it covered at 400 (30 min?), then uncovered  another 15-20 for browning.  I’ll let you know when I cook mine!

I also wanted to try the polenta base with a Port Salut and Montasio cheese so I’ll be trying that later this week.   You can also make them with blue cheese or a parmesan or probably fontina, but the cream cheese was yummy.  Really surprisingly delicious for me.

All of my food idols recommend cooking with as nice a wine as you would drink, if not nicer.  I’ll admit, I don’t do that.  This recipe was made with Black Box wine and a part of an already opened bottle of Bogle Cabernet. I do drink box wine.  I like it.  It takes up less room in both the grocery cart and the recycling bin than the equivalent 4 bottles of wine.  It’s cheap.  It doesn’t compare to a $50 bottle of Cab, but I can’t really afford those anyway.  Now the already opened for a couple days of Bogle?  I probably wouldn’t drink that.  That’s another bonus to the box.  It stays fresh.  Once a red wine has been opened, I tend to think of it as expired.  I tried the Bogle before I cooked with it and though it tasted a little vinegary.  Not horrible, but not preferable either.  Cory thought it was fine, but I’m never quite sure if he’s telling me the truth or if he just didn’t want me to waste that bottle and open another bottle.  Either way, it didn’t make one bit of difference in the sauce.  The sauce was divine.  So good that I’m thinking about eating it again.  For breakfast.  So the moral of the story is, I don’t know who is right on the mandatory quality of wine for cooking.  I’d say no to using a big jug of red table wine, but that’s mainly because I don’t really like that flavor to begin with.  But I think I’d still consider it sacrilege to cook with a $30+ bottle.

Cabernet Braised Boneless Beef Short Ribs

adapted from Bon Appetit October 2007 serves 10

5 lbs boneless beef short ribs

4 long stalks rosemary

dried thyme leaves

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

1/2 c. olive oil

4 and 1/2 c. cabernet sauvingnon

1 can beef consomme

1 can water

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons flour

Use your thumb and forefinger to strip all the leaves from the rosemary stems.  Chop leaves into smaller pieces with a sharp knife.  Rub beef ribs with the rosemary, then sprinkle with the ground thyme leaves from a shaker top spice jar.  Next, season with kosher salt and pepper.  Heat a heavy bottomed stock pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add olive oil let warm 1 minute, then add 4-5 of the ribs so they can sit in a single layer.  Turn the heat up to high and brown ribs on all sides. When thoroughly browned, remove to a plate and continue until all ribs are browned.

Preheat oven to 375.  Pour any fat from stock pot, than add wine, consomme, and water and bring to a simmer.  Add ribs and any juices from plate, cover and put in the oven.  Cook for two hours.

Remove stock pot from oven and use a large shallow spoon to skim any fat from the surface of the liquid.  (Up to this point you can do a day in advance – reheat on the stovetop to a simmer, then continue.)  Remove the ribs to a bowl and cover tightly to keep warm.  Turn heat on stock pot to high and boil sauce until reduced to about a third of the volume.  In a small bowl, use a fork to mash the softened butter and flour to a paste.  Add to stock and whisk furiously to combine.  Continue heating until thickened – about five minutes.  Serve ribs over polenta then spoon sauce over both.  Happy Eating!

Creamy Polenta Recipe

I used Elise’s recipe from Simply Recipes with a minor adjustment.  I’d say this recipe serves about 6 – maybe 7.  I used a 5:1 water to polenta ratio instead of the written 4:1.  To stir in the cream cheese with ease, I’d suggest having your cream cheese at room temperature, then adding it to your pan, covering it with a mound of warm polenta, cover the pan and walk away for 5 minutes.  Then come back and it’s a lot easier to stir.  Yum.

Cheesecake Tartlet Recipe

makes 12 3.5 inch tartlets

1 box graham crackers

6 tbsp sugar

10 tbsp melted butter

16 oz cream cheese

2/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 300.  In a food processor pulse to grind up the graham crackers.  Pour crumbles into bowl and combine with sugar and melted butter.  Press about 2 tbsp of mixture into each tartlet, then press with fingers to evenly cover bottom and sides.  Add cracker mixture as necessary to ensure that all sides of tartlet are covered.  Place tartlet pans in oven to crisp cracker mixture for 3 minutes.

In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth and you see no lumps.  This seems to take an unbelievably long time, but be patient, it will appear smooth eventually.  Add sugar and beat until combined, add eggs one at a time, then use spatula to scrape the sides of bowl.  Add vanilla and sour cream, beat until combined.  Pour mixture into tartlet pans.

Bake in oven 14-16 minutes checking at 14 minutes by jiggling pan.  If the entire filling jiggles cook the additional 2 minutes, when only the center jiggles remove from the oven and cool on counter.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  Remove from tartlet pan by pushing up  from the bottom.  Use a butter knife to remove the disc bottom and plate.

The problem is, I’m guilty of overcomplicating things.  And home preparing lunch meat, just really should not be high on my priority list.  I’ve already had to remind myself that kindergarten lunchboxes are not a competition, and even though I’m trying to love the earth and all, a pre-packaged yogurt won’t single-handedly destroy the environment.  Plus if I die, killing myself over preparing beautiful, green lunches, where does that get us?  In a burst of inspiration after making the Chicken Stuffed with Spinach, Mozzarella, and Pine Nuts, I realized I already had the perfect easy lunch meat recipe in my repertoire.  This is super easy, and nearly impossible to mess up.  Braising the chicken in a bit of chicken broth leaves the chicken tender – even after refrigeration.  The other great use for this style chicken is dinner for the children. So much healthier than a chicken nugget, yet just as fast from the fridge.  Last night our grownup dinner wasn’t ready until 7:15, so the kids had dinner at the kid table.  These sliced up braised chicken breasts, grapes, and a brownie for dessert.  Done, done, and off to bed with you!

So my new plan?  Make several of these up each week, throw them in the refrigerator, then use them as needed.  This is my husband’s sandwich, you can tell because of the mayonnaise.  If you’re using tomatoes, don’t forget to lightly sprinkle them with sea salt!  It makes such a difference.  Mandy Looney once told me, “When you’re making a sandwich for your husband, you have to make an effort to make it look pretty.  Use the curly green leaf lettuce.”  Of course Mandy also told me to always put lipstick on before my husband came home from work, which I promptly ignored ; )  I’m currently having a torrid love affair with coarse ground dijon mustard.  I highly recommend it on everything straight down to hot dogs.  It just adds a little something extra, don’t you think?

Braised Chicken Breasts Recipe

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

paprika

olive oil

3/4 c. chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350.  Trim any fat or tough parts from the chicken breasts, then sprinkle them with kosher salt, pepper, and paprika, always in that order.  In a heavy-bottomed braising dish or saute pan, add just a drizzle of olive oil then heat over medium high.  Add chicken breasts, browning on the first side for 5 minutes, turn then the second side about 4 minutes.  Add chicken broth, then cover with a tight fitting lid or aluminum foil.  Bake in oven 15 minutes, then remove to a cutting board to rest.  Slice at an angle and serve!

Happy Eating!

Don’t worry, I’m not having a life crisis.  This pot roast was prepared simply to signify the impending change of the seasons and provide a key one pot meal that could be made in advance (Soccer season has started!) then served again -even more deliciously in leftover form.  I never eat leftovers.  Ever.  Luckily my husband does without the slightest complaint, I think he enjoys them actually.  But soups – that is a different story – soups are designed to get better with age and therefore provide none of the diminished quality and disappointment I find in traditional leftover dinners.

This method was taught to me by mother, she made it for us and now we all make it for each other and our families.  I’ve never been fond of the word stew – it sounds like something you eat when you don’t have enough money to buy something better.  Kind of like porridge or spam.  But I know that’s ridiculous, so I looked up the definition of stew and it turns out – pot roast is exactly this.  I was going to refer to this as Braised chuck roast, but braising refers to a small amount of cooking liquid – as I would with artichokes.  Stewing means liquid almost covering the meat.  The easiest place to go wrong with this recipe is by not browning your meat long enough – truly you want to brown it until you’re almost afraid of burning the roast.  The second word of caution – though I’ve made this type of meat THOUSANDS of times and only run into the issue once, but I feel compelled to relate – involves frozen chuck roast.  Should you be using a previously frozen chuck roast – PLEASE be sure your roast is completely thawed before you begin browning.  I ran into this problem in haste in July and blistered my face terribly when the hot oil popped up at me.  Don’t worry – it’s healed quite nicely and you can barely tell now.

As for the onions in the recipe – they are crucial – albeit hard to find.  What you want are small onions in a glass jar like this.  You don’t need this Aunt Nellie’s brand, that just seems to be the only kind I see in Texas.  In the Midwest they were called something different.  They’re generally in the canned vegetable aisle along the top row somewhere – possibly near beets.  You drain them, then pour right on in.  For some reason, they are really hard to find so I may have to start ordering them by the case like I do with my pickles.  In a pinch, like this week, I went with the small bags of white boiler onions found in the produce section.  This works fine but is so much more labor intensive, involving boiling quickly, about a minute, then peeling each one before adding to the stew.  Frankly, I just don’t have that kind of patience.  Not to mention they are so much more expensive this way, I think the package of approx 10 onions costs $3.95.

Thanks to my mother for teaching me this staple recipe, I don’t think I could possibly function without it.  Next time you want to send extra support to a loved one – you’ll know what to make.

Pot Roast Recipe makes about 6 quarts

2 beef chuck roasts – do not buy one that says shoulder – approx 6.5 lbs total weight

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

paprika

all-purpose flour

olive oil

8-9 carrots, peeled

8-9 medium size new potatoes

2 jars white onions

Season all sides of roasts with kosher salt, pepper, and paprika.  Pour flour into a small bowl, then coat all sides of roast with a layer of flour, shaking off the excess.  Heat a large – heavy bottom required – stock pot on medium high heat on the stove.  Add about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil, then brown one roast at a time on all sides.

Continue to move roast around about every five minutes.  Keep your eye on the flour mixture, as this will be the base of your gravy, if it looks like it’s starting to burn reduce your heat a bit.  Let first roast rest on a plate and brown the other piece.

When meat is completely browned, add reserved roast and any accumulated juices back to pan.  The entire browning process should take you about 40 minutes.  Cover with water almost, but not quite, covering the roasts completely.  Add 2 teaspoons salt and 16 turns ground pepper.  Cover stock pot with a lid, and reduce heat to medium.  Check after 1 hour, reduce heat by about 25% then cover and cook another hour.

Chop carrots in half lengthwise, then into 2 inch segments.  Chop potatoes in half lengthwise, then into thirds.  Add both to to stew.  Drain onions, then add.  Cover stock pot with lid and cook another hour and a half.  Use tongs to remove chuck roast to a bowl.  Use two forks to remove just the meat portion to a separate bowl then shred.  Discard fat and other parts. Then return shredded beef to stew, stir and season to taste.  Serve with a crunchy garlic french bread.  Happy eating!

If you’re dieting, you may want to throw me off a cliff right now.  There is absolutely no redeeming nutritional value to this recipe.  I think of dessert as a choice.  So if I’m choosing, I’m going all out.  I’ll never learn to drink diet coke, I’ll just drink water more of the time.  Sweets are simply not my main priority – now you take away my salt or my wine?  We are going to have issues.  That said, it may be such a phenomenally rich dessert that you can just have a small piece and call it a day.  My sister Allison has phenomenal will power with chocolate.  She really can just have a nibble and save the rest.  I can do that with chocolate, but you put a pound of cooked bacon in front of me?  Don’t count on any bacon left for your children’s breakfast.  All that said, everyone should try a little of this fudge.  It might be life changing.

The only special equipment required for this recipe are a candy thermometer (I think these are almost always glass not digital due to the extreme high temps required) and plastic wrap.  I like the Saran original myself but it’s a total pain to find so I used Saran Premium in this recipe, I imagine Glad Clingwrap would work, I find it just doesn’t stick as well as the others.  Whatever you do, don’t try that press and seal business, I’m still not entirely sure what coats the surface of that stuff and it just seems like one big giant mess.  Candy making can seem intimidating, so I’m going to try and interlace the recipe with step by step photos.

Dark Chocolate Toffee Crunch Fudge Recipe

1 stick plus 6 tbsp butter

1 c. sugar

2 tbsp water

2 tsp vanilla

3 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

3 tbsp butter

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Grease a cookie sheet with butter.  Cover the sides and bottom of an 8 x 8 glass casserole with plastic wrap as snugly as you can.  Make sure the sides hang over the edges a bit.  In a saucepan over high heat, combine the butter, sugar and water.  Bring to a boil, then start stirring with a wooden spatula.

Continue stirring, beginning to check temperature when you see a distinct color change towards brown. You’re looking for a completed temp of about 310.

Remove from heat quickly add vanilla, stir, then pour onto prepared cookie sheet.  Let cool completely, then gently tap the handle end of a dinner knife at a 90 degree angle to crack toffee.  You only need about half of the toffee for the amount of fudge we’re making, the rest you can eat, feed to your kids, store, save, give to your teacher, whatever.

Take the half of cracked toffee to a large cutting board and use a mallet or the bottom a heavy glass to smash into crumbles.

In the top of a double boiler, combine chocolate, butter, and sweetened condensed milk.  Let rest over barely simmering water, but resist the urge to be productive while you’re waiting.  Chocolate is easy to burn, and frankly, we all need to sit and do nothing every now and again.  Glance at your chocolate mixture every now and again and give it a gentle stir every two minutes or so.  Once chocolate starts melting the process things speed up precipitously and this window is your most likely chance to mess things up.  Once thoroughly melted and stirred, add 1/2 cup of your toffee crumbles and stir again.  Pour mixture into glass casserole you earlier fitted with Saran wrap.  Use a spatula to smooth surface, then top with more toffee crumbles.  Refrigerate at least two hours, then gently use a knife between saran and glass to wedge out the entire block of fudge.

Cut and eat in bliss.

Key Lime Tartlet Recipe makes 24 4inch tartlets

2 box graham crackers

12 tbsp sugar

20 tbsp melted butter

7 egg yolks

2 tsp key lime zest

2 cans sweetened condensed milk (14 0z each)

1 c. key lime juice (takes 25-30 key limes if using fresh)

In a food processor, use the steel blade to process graham crackers into crumbs.  Pour 5 c. of crumbs into a large bowl, and mix with sugar.  Pour in melted butter then stir to combine.  Divide the mixture amongst 24 tartlet molds with removable bottoms.  Press crumb mixture to the edges, then bake in a 350 degree oven for 6 minutes.

Combine egg yolks and zest in a large bowl.  Stir in sweetened condensed milk, then incorporate key lime juice.  Stir then fill each tartlet cup almost to the top of crust.  Bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes, then check to see if center is firm.  Let cool in tartlet pan then push up from bottom to serve.

Key Lime Pie Recipe

1 and 1/2 sleeves of graham crackers

5 tbsp butter, melted

3 tbsp sugar

7 egg yolks

2 tsp key lime zest

2 cans sweetened condensed milk (14 0z each)

1 c. key lime juice (takes 25-30 key limes if using fresh)

In a Cuisinart or other food processor with large blade, process graham crackers to tiny crumbs.  In a large bowl stir 1 and 1/4 c. of the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until well combined.  Press mixture into a 9 inch pie pan and smooth to create an even layer on bottom and sides.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 6 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and zest.  Add sweetened condensed milk and stir to incorporate.  Add lime juice and continue whisking until all combined.  Pour into prepared crust then bake about 25 minutes longer.  Check for a firm center, then remove and cool.  Refrigerate at least four hours, then serve topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

My Internet research on Butterscotch Pudding led me to a recipe by David Lebovitz, whom I saw speak this fall.  His recipe calls for cassonade sugar.  It seems that cassonade is a french version of very slightly refined raw sugar, while Rapadura is the evaporated, pressed juice from sugar cane.  I’ve trolled hundreds of sites in both french and english trying to figure out the difference between the two, and that was about as much info as I could come up with on the two.  SMIL brought me a brick of Rapadura from Brazil this fall, and I tried out this recipe using it.  Thanks, SMIL!  I love trying out new ingredients!

The Rapadura originally comes in a brick, which you’re then supposed to heat in a 200 degree oven where it melts, then you can break it up into small pieces and run it through a cuisinart to granulate it.  Here’s a pic of mine melted.

Mine didn’t turn into crystals in the Cuisinart, instead it turned into a big sticky mess so I just kept it in broken toffee like chunks.  I just popped a bit back into the cuisinart tonight to find it’s less sticky now, though I still think the chunk application will work better for me.  Here’s a pic after processing.

The flavor was perfect for the recipe.  If you don’t have either of these sugars on hand, try a panela, jaggery, or a demerara sugar from a specialty foods store, or just regular old dark brown sugar.

Butterscotch Pudding (adapted from David Lebovitz’s recipe)

serves 8 small or 5 large servings

4 tbsp butter

1 and 3/4 c. stacked, broken pieces of Rapadura, (mine are large leaving lots of empty space in measuring cup, if you’re using crystals or dark brown sugar, only use 1 c.)

3 tbsp cornstarch

2 and 1/2 c. 2% milk

2 eggs

2 tsp Jack Daniels

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a sauce pan, melt butter on low heat, add rapadura and stir occasionally with a wooden spatula, heating until sugar melts and is a bubbling mixture.  Remove from heat.

Mix cornstarch and 1/4 c. milk with a whisk until smooth.  Add eggs and continue to whisk.

Add remaining milk  1/4 c. at a time to melted rapadura, whisking continuously, integrating without hardening the sugar mixture by adding too much cold liquid at once.  Follow with the cornstarch mixture.

Return pan to medium high heat and bring to a boil, whisking continuously.  Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and cook another minute, whisking continuously.  Remove from heat when thickened to a ketchup consistency.  Quickly whisk in Jack Daniels and vanilla, then pour into ramekins.

Refrigerate for at least four hours, then top with whipped cream and chocolate chips.

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Chili, like tortilla soup, seems to be a dish that means different things to different people.  I started to enter a contest earlier this year where part of the instructions required a smooth consistency of meat to gravy, containing no identifiable vegetables at all.  And some people think of chili only being a dish served so spicy it demands several beers in rapid succession to keep your taste buds from being destroyed.  This turkey chili with black beans recipe is not very spicy – you can adjust the amounts of cayenne and chili powder to increase the intensity to your desire.  You also could add half of a minced jalapeno in with the garlic, similar to the method I use in my tortilla soup.  I prefer to spice mine at serving with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Enjoy experimenting!

Turkey Chili with Black Beans

2 tbsp olive oil

2.5 lbs ground turkey

1 large white onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic

5 tomatoes on the vine, chopped

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 and 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

12 turns fresh ground pepper

1 and 1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 c. chicken stock

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Toppings: shredded cheddar jack cheese, diced onion, and crushed red pepper

Heat a heavy bottomed stock pot on medium heat.   Add olive oil and saute onion and bell pepper 8 minutes.  Add ground turkey, increase heat to high and brown thoroughly.  Add garlic, cook another minute.  Add tomatoes, spices and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.  Add black beans, simmer another 30 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!